


A Breath Away from Midnight

by gingergallifreyan



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Basically, Episode: s04e10 Midnight, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Telepathy, married, midnight with rose there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-02-21
Packaged: 2018-09-25 23:54:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9852617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingergallifreyan/pseuds/gingergallifreyan
Summary: Prompt: "The worst is over now, and we can breathe again"The Doctor and Rose (married w/telepathy and all that good stuff) decided to take a vacation on a certain leisure planet made of diamonds that orbits around an Xtonic sun.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HiddenTreasures](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenTreasures/gifts).



> Unbeta'd.
> 
> Also a tiny inspiration from a tumblr post about stretching and making sexy noises.

Rose drifted out of a dream and slowly opened her eyes. What it was about, she couldn’t remember. She rolled over to see the Doctor sitting with his back against the headboard. He was already dressed for the day, with his suit and a royal blue Oxford, no tie, and glasses on, skimming through something or other. She was too sleepy to comprehend what it was.

He peered at her over the top of his frames, which were slightly down the length of his nose. He wore that charming, hopeful smile of his. “Good morning, sunshine.”

“Good morning,” she croaked. She stretched and yawned, making little high-pitched groans as she did so.

He chuckled and shifted so he was laying on his side next to her. “You make the sexiest noises when you yawn, you know that?”

She could feel his contentedness with a hint of arousal. She nuzzled into him. “Careful, Doctor. I’m still worn out from last night,” she murmured and kissed his neck.

He hummed a little, quite chuffed with himself.

“What were you reading?”

“Oh. It’s a brochure for an excursion. The planet has a sapphire waterfall. A waterfall made of sapphires! This enormous jewel the size of a glacier reaches the Cliffs of Oblivion and then shatters into sapphires at the edge, then fall 100,000 feet into a crystal ravine.”

She smiled against his skin, enjoying the vibrations on her lips as he spoke excitedly. “My mum would love it.”

“What do you think? Four hours there, four hours back.”

“I wanted to try the spa today, maybe some sunbathing. Is that alright?”

“It’ll be no fun on me own.”

“And you wouldn't have any fun sunbathing or getting treated at the spa. You wouldn't like sitting still all day long.” She looked up to find his bottom lip protruding beautifully from his mouth. She reached up to play with his hair. “Tell you what. If it’s as amazing as you think it’ll be, both of us can go tomorrow. But we’re on a leisure planet, and I want to partake in the leisure. And you said that’s Xtonic sunlight, yeah? More intense than regular sunlight? Bet I’ll have some nice tan lines you can check out later.”

He thought for a moment. “Well…”

She hummed. “And you’ll be going with other people, right?”

“Yep. Big space truck full of passengers.”

“You’ll have no problem making friends. You’re good at that.”

“Alright. Just won’t be the same if you’re not there. I’ll be back for dinner. We can try that antigravity restaurant, with bibs.”

She grinned. “It’s a date.”

He grinned down at her. “I’d best be off, then. They’ll be boarding soon.” He kissed her forehead. “See you later.”

She hugged him around his neck. “Love you.”

He chastely kissed her lips. “Love you.” He bounded off the bed for the door.

–

Two hours later, after she was finished with her deep tissue massage, she headed for one of the sun domes. She had changed into her bikini and a cover-up and wrapped a towel around her shoulders. As she sat down in a lounge chair, she checked in with the Doctor. _“How’s it going out there?”_

_“We’re having a grand time. Laughing, telling stories. There’s a professor on board. He’s sharing his research on this planet, the first study of it. You know, there’s no history of this planet because nothing’s been here to make any history until now. That’s exciting, isn’t it?”_

_“See? I knew you’d be fine.”_

_“What are you doing?”_

_“‘Bout to start some sunbathing.”_

_“Enjoy yourself, then.”_

She slipped off her cover-up and let him know exactly what she was doing. _“‘Cause you’ll be enjoying me later, right?”_ She flashed him her best telepathic grin and carded her fingers through his hair.

_“You know it.”_

She could feel the ghost of his hand run down her side. She giggled to herself and laid back in her chair and put on her sunglasses.

–

Not five minutes later, he opened their link again. _“Not to worry you, but the truck has stopped for some reason. I’m checking things out.”_

Rose sat up. She could feel his curiosity piquing. _“Leave it to you to take a trip out and something goes wrong.”_

_“Rose, the surface of this planet is gorgeous. I wish you could see this. We’re the first to lay eyes on this landscape.”_

_“Do I need to alert the management or anything?”_

_“No, they sent for an emergency dispatch. Should be here within the hour.”_

That didn't ease her concern.

_“We’re fine. I’ll be back before you know it. Lie back down and enjoy the sun. Bad enough that the people on this vehicle are freaking out.”_

_“That's definitely not helping.”_

He withdrew from their connection.

A moment later, she felt him again. _“Not to worry you again, but the mechanic noticed a shadow or something in the distance a few moments ago, and now something’s knocking on the side of the truck.”_

 _“That does it. I’m going to find the management.”_ She slipped on her cover-up and left the sundome, rounding the corner to stop at the concierge’s desk. “Hi,” she said, flashing a smile at the young man, looking at his nametag, “Jackson. My husband is out on that Crusader Tour, the one with the truck that’s stopped.”

“Yes, sorry for the inconvenience. We’ve sent a dispatch to retrieve the passengers, and they should be back by the afternoon.”

“I know that. We can communicate telepathically, and he says there’s some sort of...thing knocking on the outside of the truck.”

“Ma’am, I can assure you, there’s no life on the surface of the planet. The xtonic light would vaporize anything the moment it steps outside of the safety of the Leisure Palace.”

The sincerity behind her smile faded. “My husband and I are sort of...experts on alien life, and he says there’s something knocking on the side of the truck. He wouldn't make that up.”

He nearly rolled his eyes, but strove to maintain his pleasant demeanor. “Ma’am, I promise there’s no life–”

Her eyes flashed with anger. “And I promise that if you don’t put me in touch with management, you’ll be sorry. If something happens to the people out there because you’re refusing to listen or do anything when someone tried to warn you, I can’t imagine how that would work out for you.”

His eyes grew wide. “Alright, then.” He picked up his phone and dialed. “Sanderson, yes. Sorry. There’s a woman here, says she’s a wife of one of the Crusader Tours’ passengers. She wants to know the status of the vehicle.”

“That is not what I said.” She grabbed the phone from the concierge. “Hi, Sanderson, right? Rose Tyler. My husband is Doctor Tyler, and he’s on board the truck. We’re telepathically linked, and he’s telling me there’s something outside of their vehicle.”

“Mrs. Tyler, I can assure you, there’s no life–”

“And my husband says there is, and he knows his aliens. Contact the drivers of the truck if you don’t believe me.”

He sighed. “Let me put you on hold.” She heard the line click. She drummed her fingers impatiently to the cheesy elevator music.

_“Rose, whatever it is, it’s very clever, and it’s disconnected the driver’s cab from the truck. They’ve been vaporized. The truck shook pretty violently, but we’re all safe.”_

The line reconnected. “Ma’am, we can’t get a word from the drivers.”

“That’s because they’re dead. Whatever it is that’s out there, it’s disconnected the drivers’ cab.”

Sanderson was silent for a moment, and Jackson’s eyes went wide.

“Sir, my husband can communicate with me telepathically. And if he’s out there, then he can figure out what’s going on. How can I help?”

“Can we get you down here?”

–

Five minutes later, she was in a control room. She sat in front of a wall of monitors.

“That,” said Sanderson, a stocky, short man with gray hair and glasses, pointing to a monitor filled with snow, “is the security feed of the Crusader vehicle, but the connection’s been severed. We have no contact.”

A technician sat at a computer, typing furiously at the controls. “Backup feed should be up soon.”

“Can you get in touch? Find out what’s going on?” Sanderson asked.

Rose nodded. She touched her link with the Doctor and immediately felt a sense of unease. _“Doctor, what’s happening? I’m with someone official, and the technician’s trying to get the backup feed restored.”_

_“The creature or consciousness, whatever it is, it’s taken over one of the passengers. It's dangerously clever. Keeps repeating whatever it hears.”_

_“You don’t know what ‘it’ is?”_

_“I’ve absolutely no idea, but it’s got to be at least mildly telepathic. That’ll be slightly dampened by the new host’s brain, a human, and it won’t be satisfied for long. I don’t want to give it any time to remedy that.”_

“Backup feed restored. We can see and hear them, but they won’t be able to see or hear us. We can’t do anything else,” the technician said.

They saw the passengers. A few of them were pacing the space. A woman was crouched in the front of the cabin and the Doctor stood near her.

_“Doctor, we have the feed now.”_

_“The humans are going crazy, but this is simultaneously fascinating and horrifying."_

_“I can feel it.”_

_“Sorry. Would you like me to turn off our connection?”_

_“No.”_ She stroked his cheek.

His unease dissipated slightly until they heard the woman speaking simultaneously with one of the male passenger, and then the others nearly lost it.

“My god, what is that?” Sanderson stood with his mouth agape slightly.

“The Doctor thinks it’s some sort of telepathic creature, and it’s taken over that woman.” Rose pointed at the screen.

_“Their hysteria isn’t helping any of this, and I can’t get them to calm down.”_

She’d never felt him so uneasy before. Irritated, yes. Angry, yes. Sad, of course. But she’d never felt him anxious. 

He knelt before the woman. He was reading her. He leaned back and forth, and the woman did the same. He spoke, and she spoke exactly at the same time.

Rose felt chills down her spine. She felt his mind running at a million miles an hour. She felt his conflict between horror and curiosity, his flight and his fight.

 _“Doctor, be careful.”_ She didn't want to say too much more. There wasn’t much she could do anyway, and he needed to focus on situation at hand. She kept the connection open, though, since she wasn’t there to help or hold his hand.

The passengers started speaking again, and the woman turned her head and looked at each in their turn. The Doctor ushered the passengers towards the back of the cabin. They were out of camera range, but they could see the top of the Doctor’s head and the woman crouched in the back.

“It’s like watching an animal,” Sanderson said. “She doesn’t even look human anymore.”

The Doctor worked to get the situation under control, and he nearly had it. And then it went south.

“We should throw her out,” the hostess suggested.

Rose felt the Doctor’s heartsrate speed the further down the passengers went on the spiral.

The Doctor finally put his foot down after reason wouldn’t dispel the discussion. “If you try to throw her out of that door, you’ll have to get past me first.”

The passengers fell silent.

“Okay.”

Rose immediately stood. “She did not just–”

“Mrs. Tyler, please sit down.”

Then the passengers then turned on the Doctor.

“Who put you in charge anyway?”

“You're a doctor of what, exactly?”

Rose slammed her hand down on the desk.

_“Rose, I need you to stay calm. I can’t handle both them and you flying off the handle. I’ve got to be able to reason with them.”_

She stayed silent. She felt him panicking. She’d never seen this before, him so out of control of a situation. Normally he was able to exude some calming influence over people, him being a telepath. She’d felt it from the moment she met him. Everyone felt it when they meet him, and that’s why people trusted him so easily. But that wasn't working this time, and it put him on edge.

“But how did you know what to do?” One of the men asked.

“Because I’m clever!” the Doctor shouted, straining to gain some foothold.

It worked, but only for a second. Then they all ganged up on him. They suggested throwing _him_ out.

Rose started crying, feeling helpless.

Then the kid, Jethro, pointed out that the woman was no longer speaking with all of the passengers.

The Doctor turned to look at her.

Rose started to feel something edge in, something cold, barely touching their connection. _“Doctor, I feel something else. That thing. Whatever it is, I can barely feel it.”_

The Doctor spoke. “When did she…”

The woman spoke as well.

“No she hasn't. She’s still doing it.”

Then Rose couldn't feel him anymore.

She strained to touch him. _“Doctor?”_ She heard and felt nothing in return.

The Doctor knelt before the woman.

“What’s going on, Rose?” Sanderson asked.

“I–I can’t feel him. The link stopped. He cut it off, or...maybe that thing did.”

She watched as the Doctor spoke with the creature, tried to appeal to it, as he’d done so many times before. “Listen to me, whatever you want, if it’s life or form or consciousness or voice, you don’t have to steal it. You can find it without hurting anyone. And I’ll help you. That’s a promise. So, what do you think?”

“Do we have a deal?”

“Wait...that...that woman...she spoke first…” Rose said. She gripped the arm of her chair.

“Oh, look at that. I’m ahead of you.”

The Doctor repeated her words.

“Doctor…” Rose breathed.

“Help me, Professor,” the woman asked, and held up her hands.

 _“Doctor, move,”_ Rose pleaded. She felt nothing in return.

The professor tentatively stepped over and pulled Mrs. Sylvestry off the ground.

“Doctor, I need you to move. Come on.” Her grip on the chair tightened.

Rose stared at the woman’s face, the smug look of satisfaction as the passengers squabbled over what to do with the Doctor. “She’s manipulating all of them. Can’t they see that?” She fought back screams and sobs as they dragged the Doctor to the door.

Sanderson placed a hand on her shoulder.

Then something happened that nobody expected. The hostess grabbed the woman and opened the emergency airlock.

The Doctor lurched forward, gasping for air, whispering, “It’s gone, it’s gone, it’s gone…”

Rose, Sanderson, and the technician all sat silently.

Twenty minutes later, they all jumped when they heard the announcement over the intercom that the rescue dispatch was arriving.

–

Rose waited for that whole hour by the Crusade platform.

When the transport arrived, she saw the Doctor walk solemn-faced onto the concourse. She froze, unsure of what he wanted from her.

He stopped and looked around, and then he met her eyes and stared for a moment.

Rose walked to him.

He kept his hands in his pockets.

She reached up to caress his cheek.

He pulled her to himself.

She reached for him in her mind to comfort him.

He stepped away. “Don't.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think–”

“I just had my mind assaulted by...whatever that was.” He was a little more than mildly irritated.

“I was just trying to help.”

He took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I know. I’m sorry.”

She crossed the small distance between them. “Don’t apologize. If you don’t need that, what do you need?”

He looked at her. “I don’t know.”

“You look exhausted. Maybe you just need a kip?”

“Can we hop in the TARDIS and get out of here?”

“You go ahead. I’ll go get my bag and check us out.”

Sanderson approached. “Your stay is covered, no question. I’m sorry for what happened. This is not the kind of quality experience we want to provide. Can we do anything else for you?”

His voice was low and measured. “Get everyone off this planet. Build your Leisure Palace somewhere else. That consciousness is probably still out there.” The Doctor looked at Rose. “The TARDIS can replace whatever you’ve left behind. Let’s go.”

–

When they walked into their room, they sat on the end of the bed, motionless. Rose leaned her head on the Doctor’s shoulder.

He stared at the floor.

After a moment, she stood in front of him. “Here, let me…” Not angling for anything other than just to help him get more comfortable, she unbuttoned his jacket and slid it off his shoulders. She unbuttoned and removed his blue Oxford and pulled his black t-shirt over his head. She knelt down before him and started untying the laces of his trainers, but she stopped when she felt his hand on her shoulder.

He looked uneasy. “I know you mean well, Rose, and, believe me, I’m always alright with you undressing me, but I need to do this myself.”

She sat back on her haunches. “Okay.”

“It’s just...I wasn’t able to control my own body. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I need to convince myself that I can move.”

She stood and kissed his forehead. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help.”

He rested a hand on her hip. “I’m glad you weren’t. You’re just as curious as me, and while I love that about you, I don’t know what I would have done if it had taken you.”

“What do you need from me?”

“First, I need to shower.”

She nodded. “Your shirts are soaked. I don’t think you’ve ever sweated that much.”

He brought his other hand to her hip. “When I sweat that much with you, I’m not usually wearing any shirts to soak.”

She laid her hands on his shoulders, stroking his skin with her thumbs, and smirked. “Must be on the mend if you’re talking about sex.”

He gently smiled. “Gives me something else to think about.” He stood and cupped her face. “I’ll be back in a bit.” With a short kiss on her lips, he walked to their en suite.

Rose laid on the bed. She picked up a book off the stand and tried to read, but she only noticed then how exhausted she was. Watching that whole ordeal had been draining. As soon as she heard the water kick on, her eyes closed and she rolled onto her side.

–

Next thing she knew, a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind, and a kiss was pressed to the back of her neck.

“Better?” she asked, groggily.

“Yeah. That couldn't have been easy, having to watch all of that.”

“No, it wasn’t. But I didn’t want you to feel like you were alone.” She rolled over to face him.

He melted into her, nuzzling his nose in her neck.

She draped her leg over him. “Doctor, there was a point when I couldn’t feel you anymore. Was that you or that thing?”

“It was telepathic. Saw that it couldn't get what it needed inside the human’s brain, but it saw into mine. That’s when you felt it. I had to shut down my connection with you. I couldn’t risk anything happening to you.”

“What do you think it was, really?”

He murmured against her skin, “I think it’s gone. That’s all that matters.”

“Yeah. It’s over, and now you can breathe.”

He inhaled through his nose and pulled her tighter against himself. “Yep.” It wasn’t long before he drifted into sleep, and Rose soon joined him.


End file.
